Kali decided standing so close to the doorwasn’t wise and eased aside for the sot to pass. Here and there,gamblers worked tables, and she spotted Agent Lockhart withouttrouble. Three men sat with him in a back corner, each taking turnsrolling dice. Lockhart’s box of gambling goodies lay open on thetable. Kali wondered what kind of idiots would trust a man who hadhis own kit not to have loaded dice.
She weaved through the crowd, dodgingwayward elbows from men too busy to notice her and gropes from theones who did notice her. Some girls might be flattered at theattention, but she was wearing her coveralls and knew there wasn’tanything alluring about her. It was just that men outnumbered womentwenty to one, if not more, up here, so a lady need ever go to bedlonely if she preferred company.
Though Lockhart wore his bowler hat pulledlow on his brow while he swapped wagers with the men at the table,Kali felt his eyes upon her as she approached. He had probably beenwatching her since she walked through the door.
Kali stopped between two of the men at histable. “Mind if I play a round?”
She had no idea how to play dice games oreven if “a round” was the right term, but she figured she’d goalong with his gambler facade. If he was up in Dawson after morethan Cedar, he might not appreciate her breaking his cover in frontof these men.
“Women can’t gamble,” onefellow groused. “Go join the girls on stage, or keep somebody’sblankets warm at the hotel next door.”
“Are you sure you want tobe that insulting,” Kali asked, fishing in a pocket, “consideringI’m standing right behind you with-” she grabbed the first toolthat she felt and pulled it out, “-pliers in my hand?”
It wasn’t the most menacing tool in hercollection, but she held it up with what she hoped was an ominousexpression on her face.
“Pliers?” the man asked.“What’re you going to do with those? Now a Colt would bethreatening, but-”
Kali whipped her hand to the side andfastened the pliers about his ear. With the practiced ease of onewho has turned thousands of bolts, she issued a quick, efficienttwist. He cried out, fell out of his chair, and landed on his handsand knees. When he threw an arm up, trying to grab her, Kali simplytwisted harder. This drew another louder cry, one filled withcurses for her and all of her ancestors.
She released him, stepped back, out of hisreach, and raised the pliers as a warning to anyone else who mightbe thinking of giving her trouble. In particular, she eyed theother men at the table.
One smirked, turned the vacated chairoutward, and said, “This seat’s open, miss.”
Laughter from nearby tables drowned out thefiddle. Kali kept an eye on the man on the floor, figuring he mighthave retaliation in mind, but more than his ear was red, and heslunk off with his tail clenched between his legs.
Still holding the pliers aloft, Kali pinnedLockhart with a stare, wondering if he would give her a hard timetoo, but he merely extended a hand toward the empty seat. Thoughthe hat and the room’s dimness shadowed his eyes, they did notquite hide the glint of amusement there.
Kali slid into the warm seat. “How aboutsome poker?” she asked. She knew the rules to most versions ofthat.
“I was actually fixing totake a break,” Lockhart said.
The gambler to Kali’s right, a man who hadyet to say anything, stirred at this. He rapped his knuckles on thetable. “You need to sit right there a spell and give me a chance towin back my losses.”
Though people were still talking and musicwas still playing, Kali had no trouble hearing the soft click of ahammer being cocked beneath the table. It was Lockhart’s Colt, sheassumed; both of the other man’s hands were in sight.
Lockhart leveled a cold stare at thedissenter. “We’re done here, friend.”
The gambler’s eyes narrowed to slits, but hemust have heard the gun being readied, too, for he grumbledsomething and pushed away from the table. Back rigid, he stalkedout of the saloon.
The remaining man, the one who had offeredKali a seat, shrugged amiably and left as well.
When Kali and Lockhart were alone, she wavedat the kit full of dice, cards, and chips, and said, “If this rusewas for Cedar’s sake, or mine, you can stop now. I know who youare, and he knows that you’re here.”
Lockhart’s face grewclosed. “You told
“You played your hand toosoon.” Kali thought that sounded like a gambling-appropriate thingto say. “Showing me the newspaper and pointing him out.”
“Yes, I feared that mightbe the case. I was hoping you’d be concerned when you learned whata monster he is. You seemed smart, so I was hoping you’d knowbetter than to go right to that murderer.”
“He’s not a-” Kali startedto say murderer, but she supposed that technically he was, even ifhe only aimed for killers with bounties on their heads,“-criminal,” she said instead. “I know what happened, and you’reafter the wrong man.”
Lockhart sneered. “Of course he’d tell youthat. Do you even know his real name?”
“Yes. He told me beforeyou ever came to town. I’ll point out that you never gave me
His eyebrows twitched beneath his hat. “Isee.”
“I wouldn’t spend timewith an evil man, sir. Cedar-Milos-was framed by Cudgel Conrad. Iimagine you’ve heard of him?”
“I’m aware of thefelon.”
“Cedar’s been after himfor years, because Cudgel killed his brother. The man would doanything to get rid of Cedar, but he’s not good enough to killCedar outright.” When Kali said the last, a muscle twitched inLockhart’s jaw. Was he irked he wasn’t good enough to kill Cedaroutright either? “Cudgel must have figured that the next best thingwas to get the law after Cedar, so he’d be harried every step ofthe way and have less time to spend on collecting Cudgel’s bounty.And that’s just what you’re doing, harrying him and making troublefor him, exactly the way that criminal wants.”
Lockhart’s face remained cold and impassivethroughout Kali’s speech, and she feared she wasn’t swaying him atall. She ought to be sweet-talking him, not stating blunt truths,but she was no gifted flannel mouth. She preferred to deliverthings straight up, whether people liked hearing them or not. Shedoubted it would sound sincere if she tried to do anythingelse.
“This is the story he toldyou?” Lockhart asked.
Kali bristled, wanting tosay it was the truth, not a story, but she had only Cedar’s wordsto go on. She believed him-he’d been too honest, and too painedabout his choices, to be making things up. And, even though shealways told him that she wasn’t quick to trust people, himincluded, she
“That’s what he told me,”Kali said. “Look, there was a series of murders down in SanFrancisco, right? And Cedar got blamed because he was foundstanding over a woman killed in the same manner as the others,right? He didn’t murder her or the others though. Surely you musthave wondered when he left town and the murders continued. You musthave known you had the wrong man.”
“The murders didn’tcontinue.”
Kali blinked. “What?”
“When he was gone, theystopped.”
Damn, she had been sure she’d been on tosomething. What had happened then? Had the murderer figured thingswere too hot and he dared not strike again? Or had it simply beencoincidence that Cedar had left at the same time as this cutthroatstopped attacking women in San Francisco?
“I’m not after the wrongman, Miss McAlister,” Lockhart said softly, gently, as if he wassorry he had to hurt her feelings by telling her a truth she didn’twant to hear.
Kali sat up straight, agrowl in the back of her throat. It
Lockhart snorted.
Kali leaned forward, gripping the edge ofthe table. “You weren’t around when he first told me about hispast, so he had no reason to lie to me. He volunteered theinformation.”
“Miss McAlister, I’velearned that most men tell tall tales, especially to women theywant to bed. That fibs are
